Saturday, November 28, 2015

Crossover Cover: Vampirella vs. Fluffy the Vampire Killer

Vampirella
goes undercover as a teacher at a high school to investigate a series
of teen murders, and winds up working with a vampire-slaying student
named Fluffy. “Fluffy”
is a thinly-veiled parody of Buffy Summers of the television series
Buffy
the Vampire Slayer,
and therefore it can be assumed in creative mythographic terms, she
is indeed Buffy. However, the death of “Fluffy’s” friend
“Sallow” (Willow) must be considered a distortion. The date is
based on the fact the principal of the school, who is portrayed as
Vampirella’s ally Criswell, states the previous principal was
eaten. Two Sunnydale High principals were devoured: Robert Flutie (in
the Buffyepisode
“The Pack”), and R. Snyder (in the two-parter “Graduation
Day.”) Since the events of “Graduation Day” resulted in the
school being destroyed, I have concluded Criswell’s presence is
mere fictionalization and the principal is actually Snyder.
Furthermore, the presence of “Fluffy’s” vampire boyfriend
“Cherub” (Angel) indicates this story takes place before the
temporary removal of Angel’s soul and his equally temporary death
in Season 2. The high school being shut down at the end of Vampi and
“Fluffy’s” adventure is another distortion, as are references
to the iPhone “There’s an app for that” ad slogan, Ryan
Seacrest, and Bristol Palin.

Nope, actually Dynamite has done a few comics with Vampirella meeting parodies of other contemporary horror characters. One was a parody of True Blood, but with the vampires in the Louisiana town being much more universally malevolent than on the TV series. Since that comic doesn't address whether the outside world knows of the existence of vampires, perhaps the characters in that story are the CU versions of their counterparts in the True Blood universe. Charlaine Harris' novels would be another AU. (It's worth noting that one story by Harris set in that universe mentions a Chicago wizard who advertises in the phone book, so obviously Harry Dresden has a counterpart in that world.) Another had her meeting "Baxter," a parody of Dexter. I haven't read that one, but according to an interview with the writer, it disregards the continuity of the last season. Since the TV version of Dexter is in the CU, it's probably best to regard that one as an AU. There was also a short story in a Vampirella Anniversary Special that portrayed her as helping a Kolchak analogue (called "Kovak") out of numerous scrapes. An older Kovak was shown talking to male and female FBI agents whose faces and names are not revealed, though it's slightly implied they're Mulder and Scully. Since Kolchak certainly seemed capable of getting out of supernatural trouble on the show without constant help from Vampi, I consider that one an AU as well.

It's probably a good thing they did not parody Twilight. As deserving as Twilight is to be reviled, it's gotten old parodying it. Also the two pages of the Goon beating up sparkly vampires was enough for me.

So the TV Dexter is in but not the original books?

Was the scrapes of the Kolchak parody based on the episodes of the movie? Or are they original, because then it could be untold adventures. Then again if it's highly parodic it might just as well be an AU.

The books don't have crossovers, and follow a very different continuity than the show. At one point in them, Dexter takes a trip to Paris, and wants to visit the Rue Morgue, but is eventually told that Poe invented the street. The TV Dexter has a few links to the CU: In the episode "Truth Be Told," Dexter's coworker Angel Batista's wife takes him to task for eating two Doublemeat burgers, a nod to the Buffy episode "Doublemeat Palace." Jekyll Island Beer, one of the fake brands created by the props company Independent Studio Services, appeared in the episode "Born Free." Derrick Ferguson and Joel Jenkins' "Dead Beat in Khusra," which I covered in a previous post, has Ferguson's character Dillon drinking Jekyll Island. Finally, Tim Seeley wrote an unofficial one-page crossover between Cassie Hack and Vlad, Dexter, and Jason Voorhees:

Even though it wasn't authorized by the rights holders for either Dexter or Jason, I consider it canon, since it was written by Cassie and Vlad's creator. Dex's likeness is clearly based on Michael C. Hall, who played him on the show, and Cassie calls him the Bay Harbor Butcher, a name that's only used in the TV series. There's also a reference to Dexter (though only by his last name, Morgan) in Justin Gustainis' Midnight at the Oasis, another book I covered in a previous post, but it's not clear whether Gustainis was referencing the TV show or the books, so based on the other evidence, I'm leaning towards the former.

The incidents where Vampi helped Kovak were based on scenes from the show, so I'm just going to stick with the AU route.

I remembered the Midnight at the Oasis reference so I assumed it was to the books.

I think there's a reference to Morley cigarettes in Justified, which was based on an Elmore Leonard series and one of Quentin Tarantino's fictional brands in Jackie Brown which was based on a Leonard book. I kind of hope that brings in most of Leonard's books (which are interconnected) not just the adaptions. I've never seen Justified (though I heard it was good) and I am a bigger fan of Leonard than Tarantino.